Fall is here and it’s time to prepare your outdoor living space for the cooler weather. Winterizing your home will help maintain it and all its outdoor systems for the next season your family spends outside. Be sure to add the following fall maintenance tasks to your checklist to keep your home, yard and lighting system in top shape.
Check Fixtures and Bulbs
Designing the lighting for your outdoor living space is achieved by knowing what type of fixture is best suited for each task, what lighting effect is desired, and where the fixture should be placed to achieve the desired effect. At the end of each season, your fixtures and bulbs should be inspected to ensure this lighting design is properly maintained.
Investing in our Annual Maintenance Plan (AMP) will keep your lighting design system operating at peak efficiency and offers you the best value. We will inspect and clean each lighting fixture, bury any exposed wire and check the timing of your system. Plus, there will be no charge for any burned out bulbs or minor services needed during the next 12 months.
Clean up Falling Leaves
Falling leaves may be beautiful, but they can be a detriment to many areas of your home. Be sure to remove leaves in and around your HVAC system, as well as from your gutters. Forgetting to clean up leaves and other outdoor debris near your lighting fixtures can also create a risk of broken glass or fixtures. Some leaves can even bring pests or disease/fungus to your yard.
Trim Plants and Trees
When we work on your outdoor lighting design, we consider your landscaping and the ways it should be accented or left dark. If your trees or shrubs are left to grow up around lighting fixtures, you could end up wasting power and/or leaving areas of your home dark that should be illuminated. Our AMP agreement includes trimming bushes as needed to achieve the optimal lighting effect. Trimming will also help reduce falling leaves in the future.
In addition, spring and summer storms can cause damage to your trees, turning large branches into a falling hazard for your home or family. Your fall maintenance checklist should always include trimming trees or large plants and removing dead branches to keep your home safe and well-lit for winter.
Bring in Outdoor Accessories
Your outdoor living space is a great place to spend time before the weather gets too cold. Once you start experiencing freezing temperatures overnight, you should bring in any outdoor furniture and accessories. This includes outdoor decorations, children’s toys and any furniture you have room to store inside. If you can’t store it, use a waterproof cover.
Most light fixtures installed outdoors should be designed to remain through the winter, but if you have any decorative lighting that you won’t be using during colder months, such as cafe lights, we recommend storing them inside during the colder months to help them last longer for the next summer season.
If you’d like to schedule a fall consultation or sign up for our Annual Maintenance Plan, contact us online or at 317-448-0863.
